Third Confederate statue removed in New Orleans

Third Confederate statue removed in New Orleans

On Tuesday, the city of New Orleans began removal of a statue of Gen. P.G.T Beauregard, a Confederate general. The statue was the third out of four Confederate statues that was slated for removal in the city.

The other two monuments that have been taken down were: a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and a memorial to a white rebellion against the biracial Reconstruction-era government in New Orleans.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu first proposed the removal of Confederate monuments in 2015, and the city council approved the decision last year. However, the mayor and city council met with legal opposition from supporters of the monuments, and even when the removal was approved to move forward, they were met with protesters, both for and against the monuments, when it came time to take them down.

“Today we take another step in defining our City not by our past but by our bright future,” Landrieu said in a news release. “While we must honor our history, we will not allow the Confederacy to be put on a pedestal in the heart of New Orleans.”

The last Confederate monument scheduled to be removed is the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee, which is located in the center of Lee Circle.